On the unknown document

I. Identification

à This is /seems to be…

à This looks like a(n)…

à It was / It may have been drawn / painted / written / published / used… by / in / as…

II. Description

à There is / are…

à We can see…

à On the left / right ; at the top / bottom ; in the top / bottom left- / right-hand corner…

à If we look closely, we can make out…

à It is composed of…

à The text / headline / title / caption reads: “…”

à The word(s) “…” are in bold letters / in italics / underlined / printed with a different type of letters

III. Meaning

● Making assumptions

à We can imagine / assume that…

à He/she/it must/may/might be / must have been…

● The effect on the viewer

à It’s hard not to feel…

à What is striking is…

à It gives you the impression that / an impression of…

à It is funny because you don’t expect (+ proposition infinitive)

à It is intended to…

● Giving your opinion

à Personally, I agree / don’t agree with the idea that…

à In my opinion,…

à It reminds me of… / It makes me think of…

● Expressing doubts

à I don’t know where / who / what / if / whether…

à I really wonder  where / who / what / if / whether…

à I’m not sure…

à Unfortunately, … is not mentioned here, so we can only try and guess…

à There is not much more I can say about…

Other useful vocabulary:

Type: drawing, cartoon, strip-cartoon, painting, photograph, advertisement,

Media: billboard, magazine, newspaper, magazine cover, poster, leaflet, canvas

Cartoon: draw (drew, drawn) ● ironic ● tongue-in-cheek = not serious = humorous = funny ● caricature à caricatured = exaggerated ● in proportion ≠ out of proportion with/to ● balloon ● caption ● illustration

Photography (the art or method of producing photographs): take (took, taken) a photograph = photo = snapshot à photographer ● subject ● high-angle / low-angle picture ● strangely framed: cadré(e) bizarrement ● blurred = soft = fuzzy = out of focus ≠ in focus = sharp ● candid ≠ posed

Painting: oil / watercolour painting ● realistic/figurative ≠ abstract ● portrait ● landscape ● canvas

Advertisement à advertiser ● target ● product ● brand (name) = trade name ● slogan ● catch-phrase ● logo ● (convincing) argument ● efficient ● small print: petits caractères ● lettering: caractères ● box: encadré ● catch sby’s attention

The press: newspaper article ● the news : l’actualité ● topical: d’actualité ● tabloid ≠ quality paper = broad sheet ● front page ● headline : (gros) titre ● sports / general news / crime / art and entertainment / society section: rubrique